THE 

FOUNDATION  OF  FAITH, 

PREACHED  BY 

THE  RT.  REV.  JOHN  S  RAVENS  CROFT,  D.I>. 

In  St.  Luke's  Church,  Salisbury,  JV*.  C. 
AT  THE  ORDINATION  OF  THE  REV.  PHILIP  B.  WILEY^ 

Suniay,  JSlay  24?,  1829, 

AND  PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST  OF  THE  CONVENTION^ 


fayetteville: 
PRINTED  BY  EDWARD  J,  HALE. 
1829. 


Digitized  by  the  liinjernet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/revelationfoundaOOr 


Rom.  chap.  10,  ver.  14^  and  part  of  15. 

**IIow  then  shall  they  call  on  Mm,  in  ichom  they  have  not  believed?  and 
how  shall  they  believe  in  him,  of  whom  they  have  not  heard?  and  horn 
shall  they  hear,  icithont  a  Preacher?  andlwiv  shall  they  preach,  except 
they  be  sent?'^ 

In  this  series  of  questions,  it  appears  to  be  the  Apostle's  object  to 
shew,  that  Revelation  is  the  only  foundation,  on  which  Religion  can  be^ 
either  required  of,  or  practised  by,  liiilen  creatures;  and  as  it  is  of  the 
highest  importance  to  the  interests  of  our  souls,  my  hearers,  that  men 
should  be  fully  convinced  of  this  primary  truth — I  shall  endeavour  to 
explain  and  conlirm  it,  by  shewing, 

£'irst — That  discoveries  are  made  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  which 
were  otherwise  impossible  to  men. 

Secondly. — That  these  discoveries  are  adapted  to  a  state  or  condition 
of  the  world,  from  which  it  was  desirable  to  be  delivered. 

Thirdly. — That  the  preaching  of  the  word  is  the  regular  appointed 
means  for  making  known  to  the  world,  the  methods  of  God's  Grace,  in 
the  salvation  of  sinners. — *'How  then  shall  they  call  on  him,  in  whom 
they  have  not  believed?  and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him,  of  whom 
they  have  not  heard?  and  how  shall  they  hear,  without  a  preacher?'^ 

Fourthly. — That  astlie  discoveries  of  the  Gospel  are  oi  Divine  Reve- 
lation— so  is  the  preaching  of  the  word  and  the  administration  of  the 
Gospel,  by  a  Divine  Commission — '^^nd  how  shall  ihey  preach,  except 
thev  be  sent?*' 

First. — I  am  to  shew  that  discoveries  are  made  in  the  Gospel  of  Christy 
which  were  otherwise  impossible  to  me  ;. 

To  those  who  are  acquainted  with  that  Gospel,  this  proposition  would 
seem  to  require  no  proof.  But  on  a  little  more  consideration,  we  shall 
find,  that  the  actual  condition  of  the  religious  woi  ld,  renders  it  both 
necessary  and  proper,  to  vindicate  the  claims  of  Revealed  Religion, 
against  Religion  in  the  general,  or  abstract  notion,  of  the  unbelieving 
indifference  of  too  many,  in  this  latter  day  state  of  the  Gospel.  It  is 
a  part  of  our  weakness,  my  brethren,  against  which  we  should  be  stcudil^ 
on  our  guard,  that  admitted  truths,  however  high  their  importance,  lose 
by  length  of  time,  that  relish  and  impression,  which  the  freshness  of  dis- 
covery imparts  to  them*  Hence,  though  the  acknowledgment  is  general, 
in  all  Christian  lands,  of  those  truttis,  which  by  Revelation  are  made  our 
own — and  though  the  awful  consequences  which  depend  upon  them,  are 
'ust  the  same  now,  as  at  the  beginning — yet  it  is  past  all  contradiction 
e,  that  they  are  not  listened  to,  with  that  reverence  and  attention — • 
do  not  occupy,  and  fill  the  minds  of  men,  with  that  dieep  and  seri- 
terest — which  so  tremendous  an  alternative,  as  salvation,  or  dam- 
,  must  present  to  every  rejecting  mind.    Having  been  so  lon^ 


4 


in  possession,  we  are  apt  to  overlook  the  source,  irorn  wiieiice  we  de 
rive  them — -to  consider  them  as  antiquated,  and  far  distant,  in  their  ap- 
plication; when  nevertheless  in  their  vital  influence  upon  the  heart, 
they  are  to  this  day,  and  will  be  to  the  end  of  days,  as  new  and  as 
fresh,  as  wlien  first  promuli^ated. 

To  this  cause  it  is  owing,  that  experimental  Religion  is  so  little 
fought  after — that  so  many  are  satislied  with  the  kiiowledge  of  the 
truth — and  are  careless  about  the  effect — that  numbers  rest  contented 
with  the  form,  while  they  aie  strangers  to  the  power,  of  Godliness — for- 
getting, **that  the  letter  killeth" — that  mere  acquaintance  with  Religi- 
ous Truth,  possesses  no  saving  power — being  equally  in  reach  of  the 
worst,  and  of  the  best  of  men — and  not  bearing  in  mind,  '*that  the  Spirit 
giveth  Life,"  in  the  saving  application  of  truth  to  the  heart,  and  from 
thence  to  the  conversation  of  every  believer. 

To  this  cause  also,  lam  disposed  to  refer  that  trait  in  the  free-think- 
ing philosophy  of  the  present  day,  which  boldly  assumes  as  its  own, 
the  deep  things  of  God,  deals  with  them,  as  with  mere  natural  verities, 
and  putting  in  the  back  ground,  the  only  source  of  truth  and  wisdom, 
presumptuously  speculates  on  the  condition  of  man,  and  on  the  purpos- 
es of  God  respecting  him,  as  if  the  councils  of  him,  who  is  perfect  in 
knowledge,  were  within  the  grasp  of  a  finite  and  fallen  creature.  Hence 
much  of  that  indifference,  not  to  say  deadness,  to  the  Religion  of  the 
Gospel,  which  marks  men  of  literary  pretensions  in  the  present,  as  well 
as  in  primitive  times.  Full  of  the  wisdom  of  the  world,  but  empty  of 
that  wisdom,  which  cometh  down  fronj  above,  they  overlook  the  never 
to  be  shaken  truth,  that  but  for  the  page  of  Revelation,  tiie  boasted 
powers  of  human  reason  could  never  have  advanced  a  single  step,  in 
the  science  of  salvation.  ''The  World  by  wisdom,  never  knew  God." 
To  this  also,  I  doubt  not,  it  is  owing,  that  ''not  many  wise,  not  many 
noble,  are  now  called" — '^Because  that,  though  they  profess  to  know 
God,  they  glorify  him  not  as  God,  neither  are  thankful,  but  become 
vain  in  their  imaginations,  and  their  foolish  heart  is  darkened,"  so  that 
God  permits  strong  delusion  to  lay  hold  of  them — even  to  believing  the 
impossible  lie,  that  they  can  be  their  own  Saviours.  And  was  this  evil 
confined  to  this  description  of  persons — though  deeply  to  be  deplored, 
it  mi^ht  be  submitted  to;  but  unhappily  the  example  is  spreading  among 
the  rising  hope  of  future  days,  in  the  young  men  of  this  generation — 
who  are  caught  by  the  glitter  of  false  learning,  and  seduced  by  the 
great  swelling  M'ords  of  vanity,  according  to  the  description  of  the 
Apostle,  wherewith  they  promise  them  liberty,  from  what  they  are  pleas- 
ed to  call  the  trammels  of  superstition — and  whereby  they  are  seduced^ 
to  doubt,  and  to  deny,  the  Truth,  ''which  is  according  to  Godliness." 

But  vvas  the  Revelation  of  the  Gospel  faii  ly  considered,  what  it  is 
that  it  brings  to  our  knowledge,  with  what  it  proposes  to  our  attainment 
—it  could  not  fail,  I  think,  to  interest  and  engage,  even  the  command- 
ing and  commendible  acquirements  of  literature,  unreservedly  in  its  be 
half.  For  it  meets  us,  with  its  soul  cheering  discoveries — exactly  wher 
the  powers  of  human  reason  come  to  a  full  stop.  When  observatio^ 
and  experience,  introduce  us  fully  to  that  ctmfusion  and  disot 
which  pervade  equally  the  natural  and  the  moral  world — they  c 
no  farther;  and  just  at  this  point,  the  discoveries  of  Revelatioi 


in  to  save  us,  from  tiie  gloomy  conclusions  of  Fate  aiul  >ieccs55ity,— oi 
Chance  Creation,  and  Atheism. 

One  single  example  out  ot"  many  may  s*Tve,  my  hearers,  to  confirm 
this  remark.  How  are  we  to  account  for  the  orii^in  and  existence  of  evil, 
either  natural  ormoral,  in  the  creation  of  a  perfectly  good,  wise,  and  om- 
nipotent Beiiif]^.  Can  reason  and  ph.ilosophy  account  for  this.^  Ala^,  it  is 
j'owerless.  AVe  may  conjecture  and  speculate,  and  build  up  theory 
upon  theory,  till  we  lose  ourselves  in  thought— -but  still  ne  have  only 
the  miserable  certainty,  that  evil  is  present  with  us.  To  Revelatioa 
alone,  therefore,  are  we  indebted  for  this  discovery. 

But  admitting  for  tire  moment,  that  it  is  possible  to  be  satisfied  oa 
this  point,  without  the  aid  of  Revelation.  Let  me  ask,  what  are  we  the 
better  for  it?  Can  this  knowled«;e,  however  attained,  furnish  a  remedy 
for,  or  arrest,  the  mortal  malady  under  which  the  world  labours?  No, 
not  at  all — -'Man  knoweth  not  the  price  thereof,  neither  is  it  found  in  the 
land  of  the  living-— the  depth  saith  it  is  not  in  me, and  the  sea  saith  it  is 
not  with  me.  But  God  understandeth  the  way  thereof,''  and  hath  shew- 
ed unto  us,  in  the  Gospel  of  his  8.)n,  '-the  place  where  wisdom  may  be 
found" — Tliat  wisdom,  compared  with  vv'liich,  all  the  wisdom  of  the 
world  is  foolishness.  That  truth,  in  the  light  of  which,  the  wisest  sys- 
tems  of  human  contrivance  vanish  into  their  original  darkness — That 
truth,  which  shall  endure,  and  shine  brighter  and  brighter,  when  this 
world,  with  all  its  wisdom  and  philosophy,  ''shall  pass  away  with  a 
great  noise,"  and  be  no  more  seen  for  ever. 

To  the  Gospel  then,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  and  to  the  Gospel 
alone,  must  we  look,  lor  the  solution  of  every  difficulty,  and  of  every 
doubt,  which  attends  our  present  condition — To  that  also  must  we  come, 
and,  thanks  be  to  God  fot-  the  blessed  privilege,  to  that  may  we  freely 
come,  for  help  and  deliverance,  for  comfort  and  consolation,  for  grace 
and  truth,  throu,2;h  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Man.  the  favoured  creature 
of  Almighty  God,  made  in  the  image  of  his  Creator,  and  amply  provid- 
ed with  all  that  was  needful  to  his  happiness,  by  wilful  disobedience, 
drew  down  upon  himself,  and  upon  creation,  the  curse  of  God.  Hence 
the  origin  of  that  sin  and  misery,  w  hich  prevails  in  this  world.  But 
mercy,  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  eternal  and  only  begotten 
Son  of  God,  interposed  in  behalf  of  the  condemned  criminal,  arrested 
the  uplifted  stroke  of  infinite  justice,  by  the  substitution  of  himself, 
and  thereby  converted  the  present  life,  with  all  its  load  of  guilt  and  suf- 
fering, of  sorrow  and  disappointment,  into  a  state  of  renewed  trial  and 
probation,  for  the  attainment  of  Eternal  Life,  on  the  condition  of  faith 
and  renewed  obedience. 

Tosatisfy  the  demands  of  infinite  justice,  purity,  and  holiness,  invad- 
ed  by  the  presence  of  sin — to  bear  the  punishment,  which  the  broken 
law  inexorably  demanded,  and  without  which  no  propitiation  could  be 
eftected;  for  "without  shedding  of  blood,  there  is  no  remission" — To 
teach  us  authoritatively,  the  will  of  God,  and  to  set  before  us  an  example 
of  all  holiness,  humility  and  patience,  in  the  very  nature,  which  had 
inned — the  Son  of  God  took  our  nature  upon  him.  became  the  repre- 
ntative  of  the  human  race,  paid  with  his  own  spotless  life,  the  ransom 
heir  forfeited  lives,  and  ratified  in  the  blood  of  his  cross,  a  new  cov- 
t  of  grace  and  mercy,  between  God  and  man,  in  which  repentance 


is  accepted,  and  made  available  to  the  pardon  of  sin,  through  faith  iu 
the  atoning  virtue  of  his  blood,  poured  out  upon  the  cross,  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  world.  And  the  sincere,  though  imperfect  obedience  of 
sinful  creatures,  is  accepted  before  God,  through  his  mediation  and 
intercession.  This,  niy  brethren,  is  the  Gospel  of  the  ever  blessed 
God.  The  glad  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people.  To 
the  blessings  and  benefits  of  which  state  of  salvation,  it  hath  pleased 
God  to  call  you,  niy  friends.  This  is  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery 
— the  Revelation  of  *'the  hidden  mystery,  which  was  kept  secret  since 
the  world  began;  but  now  is  made  manifest,  and  by  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Prophets  according  to  the  commandment  of  the  everlasting  God,  is 
jiiade  to  all  nations,  for  the  obedience  of  faith."  These  are  the  high 
discoveries,  which  the  Gospel  makes  to  our  faith,  and  which  nothing  but 
infinite  love  and  wisdou),  could  have  so  adapted  to  our  wants  and  wish- 
es, that  in  the  tuiness  and  Ireeness  of  Gospel  grace,  there  is  a  sutiici- 
ency,  even  for  the  chief  of  sinners.  ''O  the  depth  of  the  riches,  both 
of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God."  Sin  condemned  and  atoned 
for,  by  the  same  act — The  law  satisfied,  its  rigour  lelased,  and  the 
rigliteousness  which  is  of  faith  established — Life  and  immortality  brought 
to  light,  by  the  clear  and  full  discovery  of  another  life  after  this.  A 
judgment  day  declared,  and  the  very  manner  of  that  judgment  repre- 
sented, wheiein  all  who  have  ever  lived,  shall  give  account  of  them- 
tieives  to  God,  and  be  rewarded  or  jiuiiished  everlastingly,  according 
to  the  deeds  done  m  the  body. 

I*^ovv  let  me  ask,  in  what  wilderness  of  thought,  could  the  wisdom 
of  the  world  have  stumbled  on  such  discoveries  as  these,  and  so 
put  them  together,  as  to  harmonize  with  the  perfections  ot  God,  and 
the  imperfections  of  his  fallen,  sinful  creature,  as  is  manifested  in  the 
glorious  plan  of  our  redemption,  by  Jesus  Christ.^  O  ye  disputers  of  this 
world,  who  vainly  stri\eto  bolsterup  the  misgivings  of  your  own  hearts, 
by  an  affectation  of  doubt,  on  the  Revelation  of  the  Gospel — but  in  the 
hour  of  danger,  give  the  lie  to  your  own  vatn  talkings,  and  flee  to  the 
consolations  and  hopes,  which  that  alone  can  give — why  do  you  thus 
sin  against  your  own  souls?  Is  there  any  tiling  disgraceful  in  accepting 
mercy  or  receiving  favour  at  the  hand  of  Almighty  God.*^  Is  there  any 
thing  low  or  unbecoming,  in  humbling  yourselves  to  submit  to  the  righte- 
ousness of  God,  that  he  may  save  you,  by  a  way  you  know  not  of.»^ 
Come  on  now,  bring  your  boasted  reason  to  the  trial,  and  let  us  see  what 
you  can  substitute,  for  *'that  grace  of  God,  which  bringeth  salvation" — 
tSuit  yourselves  every  way,  so  that  no  earthly  objection  shall  be  found 
against  your  method  of  salvation — and  what  then!  Alas,  yourselves 
dare  not  trust  it — It  is  of  man,  the  production  of  a  perishing  creature — 
and  must  go,  with  its  author,  to  a  tribunal  that  is  eternal.  For  it  is 
written,  *'As  I  live  saith  tlie  Lord,  every  knee  shall  bow  to  me,  and 
every  tongue  shall  confess  to  God." 

Secondly. am  to  shew,  that  these  discoveries  are  adapted  to  a  state 
or  condition  of  the  world,  from  which  it  was  desirable  to  be  delivered. 

The  condition  of  man  as  a  sinner,  and  consequently  liable  to  wrat' 
and  punishment,  and  conscious  that  he  is  tlius  liable — is  demonstrate^^ 
by  all  that  has  hitherto  been  discovered  concerning  him.  WhereVer 
he  is  found,  whether  civilized  or  savage,  a  sense  of  guilt  cleaving  t» 


7 


him,  is  manifested;  and  Religion,  in  some  shape  or  other,  is  the  refuge, 
to  which  he  flees,  for  relief  and  comfort.  Ccmscious  that  he  is  iiniier 
the  control  and  within  the  power  of  an  invisible  and  omnipotent  Being, 
with  whom  he  is  at  variance,  and  whom  it  is  both  his  duty  and  his  inte- 
rest to  propitiate,  every  device,  which  ignorance  and  fear  can  prompt 
superstition  to  invent,  has  been  resorted  to,  to  appease  the  wrath  and 
avert  the  indignation  of  that  vSupreme  Being,  who  is  thus  ignotantly 
worshipped.  Jn  this  universal  worship,  there  is  one  circumstance,  my 
brethren,  which  is  common  to  all  the  shapes  and  forms,  with  which  it  has 
been  invested:  which  is  this — The  vicarious  substitution  of  man,  or  ani- 
mal, as  a  sacrifice,  to  avert  wrath  from  the  worshipper  himself.  Where- 
ever  man  is  found,  even  in  the  most  degraded  and  brutal  state,  in  which 
recent  discovery  has  represented  him  to  our  notice,  where  no  other 
trace  of  Religion  is  to  be  seen,  the  victim  bleeds,  and  life  is  oftered 
up  to  appease  and  propitiate.  An  experience  thus  general,  my  hearers, 
is  with  me  a  most  conclusive  argument  for  the  truth  of  Revelation,  for 
it  is  not  to  be  accounted  for,  that  such  should  be  the  universal  impres- 
sion and  practice,  but  from  the  identity  of  the  human  race,  the  commu- 
nity of  guilt,  and  the  tradition  of  that  sacrifice  which  was  instituted  up- 
on the  entrance  of  sin,  as  a  type  of  that  great  sin  oftering,  presented 
on  Calvary,  "which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world." 

The  great  volume  of  nature,  my  Brethren,  unquestionably  points  the 
creature  to  the  Creator,  and  as  God,  it  is  his  first  duty,  to  honour  and  to 
worship  Him^  who  giveth  to  all  his  creatures,  life  and  breath  and  all 
things.  But  alas,  the  power  of  sin  hath  so  weakened  and  corrupted  his 
faculties,  that  this  grand  and  universally  legible  record  of  God,  is  a  seal- 
ed book  to  him,  as  to  himself.  Amid  the  beauties  and  bounties  of  na- 
ture, man  sees  and  feels  the  effects  of  the  curse,  and  shrinks  in  terror 
and  dismay  from  that  awful  Being,  who  rides  in  the  whirlwind  and  di- 
rects the  storm.  If  he  reflects  at  all,  he  perceives,  that  himself  is  noth- 
ing, even  here,  where  he  is  lord  of  all  below.  And  if  an  anxious  thought 
should  burst  the  barrier  of  sensible  things,  and  enquire  beyond  the  grave, 
nature  has  no  sweet  discovery,  wherewith  to  relieve  the  anxious  soul, 
which  pants  for  immortality.  If  he  has  advanced  to  the  supreme  and 
eternal  cause  of  all  being,  by  the  study  of  his  works,  he  beholds  God  in 
all  the  plenitude  of  his  incommunicable  attributes — he  beholds  himself, 
without  any  claim  to  his  notice  and  regard,  but  what  he  has  in  common 
with  every  other  creature,  to  whom  life  is  given.  Nature's  volume  con- 
tains no  record  of  sympathy  and  compassion  for  deceived  and  ruined 
mortals.  Yet  something  within  him  would  claim  a  nearer  relationship 
' — the  immortal  aspiring  principle,  which  God  breathed  into  him,  with 
the  breath  of  life,  would  soar  to  its  original  kindred  in  the  Heavens.— r 
But  guilt,  the  guilt  of  sin,  hath  put  a  bar  between  them,  which  nature 
cannot  remove.  No,  dear  brethren — without  the  Gospel,  there  is  neither 
help  nor  hope  for  sinners. 

Thus  surrounded  by  a  power  which  he  cannot  escape;  conscious  of  a 
ilt,  which  he  cannot  remove;  desirous  to  propitiate,  but  ignorant  of 
hat  will  be  acceptable;  exposed  to  the  evil  which  sin  hath  entailed  upon 
present  life;  death  sooner  or  later;  certain  and  inevitable;  another 
State  of  being,  after  this,  shrouded  from  his  view,  in  all  the  uncertainty 
ofunrevealed  conjecture,  yet  nevertheless,  what  gives  shape  and  sub- 


stance  to  all  his  fears — what  is  there  in  such  a  condition  desirable?  or 
rather,  my  friends,  what  is  there  in  it,  from  which  it  is  not  above  all 
things  desirable  to  be  delivered?  And,  thanks  be  to  God,  by  the  revela- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Gospel,  we  are  delivered  fi  om  this  dark  and 
dismal  state  of  doubt  arid  dismay.  It  is  our  unspeakable  blessing,  my 
dear  hearers,  to  know  the  gracious  purpose  of  Almighty  God,  in  permit- 
tin'J:that  mixed  state  of  moral  and  natural  evil,  which  this  present  world 
presents  to  our  notice,  it  is  ours  to  know,  that  his  power  and  providence 
stand  engaged  to  make  it  work  together,  for  his  glory  and  our  2;ood.  It 
is  ours  to  look  up  to  him  with  reverence  and  love,  as  our  reconciled  fa- 
ther in  Christ  Jesus.  It  is  ours  to  know  the  propitiation,  which  is  al- 
ways acceptable  in  his  sight,  even  the  blood  of  his  only  begotten  Son, 
/Hvhich  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  It  is  ours  to  know  his  will,  and  to  have 
power  to  do  it,  through  the  grace  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus,  it  is  ours  to 
look  beyond  the  grave,  to  a  never-ending  existence,  in  which  the  awful 
sanctions  of  leligion  shall  be  applied  to  the  deeds  done  in  this  body,  by 
the  righteous  judgnient  of  God,  in  the  rewards  and  punishments  of  eter- 
nity. Atid  it  is  our  high  privilege,  my  brethren  in  the  Lord,  by  virtue 
of  the  victory  given  us  over  death.  Hell,  and  the  grave,  through  the  re- 
surrection of  Christ,  to  look  forward  with  humble  yet  joyful  hope,  with 
lively  and  assured  faith,  *'to  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  undefiled,  and 
which  fadeth  not  away,"  reserved  in  Heaven  for  us. 

These  are  the  discoveries  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  the  Gospel  alone. — > 
These  are  the  otherwise  impossible  discoveries,  made  to  mankind  by  re- 
velation, adapted  to  that  destitute  and  helpless  condition,  in  which  sin 
had  sunk  the  world;  from  which  it  was  surely  most  desirable  to  be  de- 
livered, and  which  God  hath  **commanded  to  be  preached  among  all  na- 
tions for  the  obedience  of  faith" — whicli  brings  me  to  what  was  proposed 
as  the  third  head  of  this  discourse. 

Thirdly. — 1  am  to  shew,  that  the  preaching  of  the  word,  is  the  regular 
appointed  means  for  making  known  to  the  world,  the  methods  of  God's 
grace  in  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

To  our  habits  of  thought  and  action,  my  hearers,  the  proposition  stands 
in  need  of  no  proof.  *'Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature,"  is  the  commission  of  the  author  of  our  religion  to  his 
ministers: — But  to  impress  upon  you  more  deeply,  the  great  importance 
of  the  appointment,  and  to  point  out  the  benefits  which  in  every  age  of 
the  world,  mankind  have  derived,  and  will  yet  derive  from  a  preached 
Gospel,  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider  more  at  large,  the  fitness  of  the 
means  to  the  end. 

It  is  certainly  not  for  us  to  say,  by  what  various  methods,  the  wisdom 
and  the  power  of  Almighty  God  might  have  provided  for  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel  in  the  world.  But  this  we  may  say — that  unless  by  resorting 
once  more  to  the  already  abortive  channel  of  tradition— or  by  the  inter- 
vention of  a  perpetual  miracle,  the  appointment  he  hath  been  pleased  to 
make  of  public  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  is  the  wisest  and  best,  because 
best  adapted  to  the  nature  and  condition  of  those,  for  whom  it  is  de 
signed. 

For,  had  it  pleased  God,  that  this  revelation  of  his  will  should  have 
been  madv  to  all  men,  in  every  place  and  in  every  agfe  of  the  world — 
to  every  generation  of  men.  and  to  every  individual  in  each  generation— 


we  cannot  comprehend  how  this  could  be  done,  without  iiivoivnig  a  stand- 
ing miracle;  which  circumstance,  independent  of  the  infringement  it 
would  be,  of  that  freedom  which  alone  constitutes  us  moral  agents,  must 
soon  cease,  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  to  be  miraculous  to  us — for 
to  apprehensions  such  as  ours,  a  perpetual  miracle  involves  a  contradic- 
tion.  Besides,  on  the  plan  of  a  perpetually  renewed  revelation,  ''must 
Ciirist  often  have  suffei  ed  since  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

On  the  other  hand,  had  tradition  again  been  resorted  to.  for  the  spread 
and  continuance  in  the  world,  of  the  revelation  made  by  the  son  of  God, 
ail  experience  went  to  prove,  that  hov^ever  high  and  holy  the  deposite — 
however  express  the  command,  to  transmit  it  down  from  generation  to 
generation,  it  would  speedily  have  been  corrupted,  and  become  as  im- 
pure, as  the  channel  through  which  it  flov/ed,  as  uncertain,  and  ineffici- 
ent, as  any  other  legend. 

But  now,  my  brethren — by  a  fixed  Revelation  of  his  will,  attested 
and  verified,  with  a  precision  which  renders  criminal  the  obstinacy 
that  will  not  receive  it  as  the  truth  of  God — and  by  the  appointment 
of  public  preaching  of  the  word,  by  persons  having  his  commission 
therefor— -God  hath  graciously  removed  every  difficulty,  and  wisely  pro- 
vided, that  every  generation,  as  it  comes  forward  on  the  great  theatre  of 
life — shall,  in  this  respect,  be  equal — ^and  that,  to  every  nation  and  kin- 
dred and  tongue  and  people,  that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth," 
the  word  of  this  salvation  shall  thus  be  sent,  and  all  mankind  be  furnished 
with  the  high  discoveries  and  holy  hope  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  That 
high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  bond  and  free,  as  they  all  stand  in  the 
same  relation  to  God,  may  alike  be  partakers  of  the  riches  of  his  grace — 
and  of  the  means,  and  of  the  hope  of  eternal  life,  through  Jesus  Christ, 
our  Lord. 

But  not  only  to  make  known  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  Gospel 
for  salvation  to  sinners,  is  the  preachinj^  of  the  word  appointed — But 
to  keep  alive  also,  the  impressions  of  divine  grace — to  convey  and  con- 
fer that  grace,  in  the  sacraments  of  salvation,  and  to  further  and  help, 
to  instruct  and  build  up  the  disciples  of  Christ,  in  the  most  holy  faith, 
is  the  office  and  duty,  of  those,  "who  are  put  in  trust  with  the  Gospel.-' 
As  it  also  is,  to  call  sinners  to  repentance,  to  warn  the  unruly,  to  reprove 
the  disobedient,  to  rebuke  the  rebellious — to  encourage  the  timid,  to 
strengthen  the  feeble  minded,  and  to  comfort  the  mourner — "warning 
every  man,  (says  the  Apostle,)  and  teaching  every  man,  that  we  may 
present  every  man  perfect,  in  Christ  Jesus." 

With  so  high  and  holy  a  purpose,  dependent  on  this  provision  of  the 
wisdom  of  God,  for  our  salvation,  the  interest  we  all  have,  that  it  should 
be  encouraged  and  promoted,  is  exactly  equal  to  the  consequences  which 
are  connected  with  it.  And  as  these  are  infinite  and  eternal — most  pre- 
sumptuously do  those  offend  against  God,  and  sin  against  their  own 
souls — who  needlessly  absent  themselves  from  the  public  appointments 
of  Religion,  or  attend  upon  them  without  reverence.  When  we  consiJer, 
looreover,  my  friends,  that  faith  itself  coraeth  by  hearing,  and  that  God 
hath  specially  promised  the  light  and  comfort  of  his  holy  spirit  to  the 
devaut  and  reverent  hearing  of  his  word  preached,  it  might  serve  to 
coTS^i^cp  many,  who  are  negligent  in  this  respect,  what  a  risk  they  run. 


10 

#f  never  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  that  tliey  rnay  be  savedj 
and  how  foolish,  and  even  impious,  it  is,  to  expect  God's  blessing, 
%yhile  they  neglect  the  very  means  he  has  appointed,  for  obtaining  it. 

But  let  me  not  be  misunderstood,  as  if  1  confined  our  duty,  under 
the  blessing  of  God's  word,  to  the  mere  hearing  of  it  preached.  No, 
iny  brethren;  what  is  preached  according  to  the  mind  of  the  spirit,  must 
be  retained  and  acted  upon.  Nor  yet,  that  I  confine  the  influences  of 
the  holy  spirit,  to  the  word  preached.  No,  my  hearers;  reading  the 
scriptures,  with  meditation  and  prayer,  is  an  excellent  and  fruitful 
means  of  Grace.  Neither  our  private,  nor  our  public  religious  duties, 
are  substitutes,  the  one  for  the  other.  When  tliey  go  hand  in  hand  toge- 
ther— when,  like  the  Bereans  of  primitive  times,  we  search  the  scrip- 
tures, to  see  whether  what  we  hear  preached  is  the  truth  of  God,  and 
as  such  receive  it,  then  it  is,  that  the  full  benefit  of  the  Gospel,  is  most 
surely  to  be  expected,  and  is  most  generally  found. 

Fourthly. — That  as  the  discoveries  of  the  Gospel  are  of  Divine  Reve* 
lation — so  is  the  preaching  of  the  word  and  the  administration  of  the 
Gospel,  by  a  Divine  Commission — "And  how  shall  they  preach,  except 
they  be  sent?" 

On  this  point,  but  little  would  be  required  to  be  said,  was  it  not  for 
the  operation  of  those  dissensions  and  divisions  in  Christianity,  which 
by  length  of  time,  and  established  habits  of  thought,  and  the  power  of 
prejudice,  and  the  pertinacity  of  party  feeling,  and  I  may  add,  the  apa- 
thy and  indifterence  of  an  unbelieving  age,  have  fulfilled  the  predictions 
of  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith,  defaced  the  beauty  and  simplici- 
ty of  the  Gospel,  and  cut  the  nerves  of  Revealed  Religion. 

Yet,  my  hearers,  in  this,  as  in  all  other  the  appointments  of  Heaven 
for  our  good,  God  hath  not  left  himself  without  witness,  or  placed  his 
creatures  under  any  necessity  of  erring  from  his  way,  or  of  defeating 
the  comfort  and  assurance  derived  from  the  Gospel,  by  reason  of  un- 
certainty in  the  administration  of  the  word  of  his  truth,  and  the  means 
of  his  grace.  By  an  undeniable  appointment  of  the  first  preachers  of 
the  Gospel,  certainty  and  assurance  was  given  to  the  first  converts  to 
Christianity,  that  their  faith  was  not  built  on  a  cunningly  devised  fable, 
the  contrivance  of  human  wisdom,  but  on  the  power  of  God,  certified 
to  their  senses  by  the  mighty  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  On  this  foun- 
dation the  Church  of  Christ  was  planted  and  built  up,  and  on  this 
foundation  it  must  continue  to  the  end  of  the  world,  or  cease  to  be  the 
church  of  the  living  God.  For,  while  faith  shall  continue  to  be  the  es~ 
sence  of  Religion,  it  must  be  derived  from  the  same  source;  while  Reve- 
lation shall  continue  to  be  the  only  ground  of  faith,  it  must  be  derived 
from  the  word  of  God;  %hile  the  word  of  God  shall  contiuue  supreme 
for  the  direction  of  man  in  his  spiritual  concerns,  it  must  be  certified 
to  his  senses,  as  the  standard  of  all  duty  and  of  all  hope;  and,  while 
it  shall  continue  to  be  preached  to  all  nations  for  the  obedience  olf  faith, . 
it  must  be  accompanied  with  the  same  Divine  commission  and  authority^^ 
by  which  it  was  verified  at  the  beginning,  as  the  truth  of  God,  for  man's 
salvation.  Now  as  faith,  considered  as  a  religious  principle,  is  insepara- 
ble from  Divine  operation  and  Divine  warrant  for  what  is  believed,  not 
only  is  the  Revelation  itself,  but  all  other  mininistrations  connected 
with  the  Religion  thus  established,  dependant  for  certainty  and  effect. 


\on  the  same  principle.  As  it  is  competentto  no  man  to  declare  the  will 
of  God  without  Revelation,  so  neither  is  it  competent  for  any,  to  admin- 
ister the  aftairs  of  Christ's  kingdom,  except  he  be  sent — that  is,  as  the 
Apostle  evidently  means,  except  he  be  duly  authorised  thereto — a  con- 
clusion 90  clear  and  so  reasonable,  and  at  the  same  time  so  wise,  and  so 
profitable  to  creatures  dependent  on  the  use  of  means  for  spiritual  at- 
tainment, as  to  create  wonder,  that  it  should  ever  have  been,  or  yet  con- 
tinue to  be,  overlooked  and  disregarded  by  Christian  people. 

Hence  is  derived  the  importance  of  all  the  services  here  to  be  per- 
formed this  day — The  worship  of  God — His  law  proclaimed — His  word 
preached — His  sacraments  administered — and  his  commission  transfer- 
red to  an  approved  servant,  professing  to  be  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  take  upon  him  this  office  and  ministry,  but  outwardly  commissioned 
for  the  assurance  of  those  to  whom  he  shall  minister — What,  my 
brethren  and  hearers,  would  they  all  be  worth,  separate  from  the  Divine 
authority,  whereby  they  are  certified  as  the  appointments  of  God  for' 
your  sanation?  *^How  shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent?'* 

Such,  my  brethren  and  friends,  being  the  Gospel  of  the  ever  blessed 
God,  which  hath  reached  so  far  as  even  unto  us,  bringing  with  it,  the 
grand  and  profitable  discovery  of  our  wants,  and  of  God's  mercies— and 
such  the  appointment  of  his  wisdom,  for  continuing  the  knowledge  of  his 
will  and  the  help  of  his  grace,  among  men,  by  the  ministry  of  the  word — 
w  hat  becomes  us,  who  are  so  highly  favoured,  and  so  richly  provided  for, 
in  our  greatest  interest?  Shall  it  be  a  dead  letter  to  us  through  neglect, 
or  life  and  power  unto  salvation,  through  attention?  This  question,  it  is 
your  part  to  answer — and  *'I  beseech  you  by  the  mercies  of  God,"  to 
lay  it  near  your  heart.  Every  thing  will  depend  on  the  temper  and  spir- 
it with  which  you  consider  it.  For  the  Apestle  tells  us,  that  in  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  the  ministers  of  Christ,  *'are  a  savour  of  life, 
or  a  savour  of  death,"  according  as  *'the  word  preached,  is  mixed  with 
faith  in  them  that  hear  it."  I  have  met  you  to-day,  my  brethren  and 
hearers,  in  the  simplicity  of  that  Gospel,  in  which  you  stand,  and  have 
laid  it  before  you,  in  its  first  lines,  as  it  were — Shall  I  then  be  the  savour 
of  life,  or  of  death  to  you,  or  any  of  you?  This  also  will  depend  great- 
ly on  yourselves;  and  I  pray  to  God,  to  help  you  to  a  right  understand- 
ing, of  what  may  turn,  perhaps,  on  the  choice  of  this  hour — ^even  your 
future  and  eternal  condition.  The  Gospel  is  your  salvation  or  condem- 
nation, as  you  receive  or  reject  it — you  cannot  escape  from  that  fixed 
rule,  by  which  you  must  be  judged  and  sentenced,  everlastingly.  But 
a  little  while,  my  friends,  and  "he  that  shall  come,  will  come,  and  will 
not  tarry."  He  comes  to  take  account  of  his  servants,  according  to 
what  he  hath  committed  unto  each  man's  trust.  At  your  hand*,,he  will 
demand  an  improvement  of  Gospel  light,  Gospel  privileges,  and  Gos- 
pel grace — and  nothing  short  of  improvement  will  answer.  The  unpro- 
fitable servant,  remember,  returned  his  Lord's  talent  safe  and  uninjur- 
ed, but  was  consigned  to  outer  darkness,  because  he  had  not  made  an 
increase  of  it.  What  then  must  be  the  portion  of  those,  who  not  only  have 
not  improved,  but  have  abused,  wasted  and  dissipated,  profaned  and 
despised,  this  richest  gift  of  God's  love?  And  think  me  not  yourenemys 
my  friends,  because  I  thus  speak — No:  God  knoweth,  that  for  your  soul^T 
I  Wjpuld  spend,  and  be  spent— and  O  that  I  had  a  tongue  of  fire,  tflat  I 


12 


Uiight  consume  every  opposing  thouglit,  and  bring  every  soul  now  be 
fore  me,  to  know  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  be  the  power  of  God  un- 
to salvation.  You  are  here,  my  brethren,  this  day,  in  the  house  of  God, 
and  as  the  people  of  God.  The  everlasting  Gospel  is  proposed  to  you; 
and  what  hindereth,  that  you  should  not  close  in  with  its  most  gracious 
offers.  "All  things  are  now  ready,  come  to  the  marriage."  0  begin  not 
with  one  consent  to  make  pxcuse,  and  go  away,  one  to  his  farm, 
another  to  his  merchandise,  and  another  to  his  profession — For  there  is 
an  awful  threat  in  this  very  Gospel,  that  those  who  make  such  excuses, 
shall  not  taste  of  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb. 

0  it  is  a  fearful  thought,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  to  reflect  on  the 
heedlessness  and  inadvertence  of  redeemed  sinners,  under  this  rich  pro- 
vision of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  for  their  salvation.    It  is  a 
heart-sinking  prospect  to  behold  the  thousands  of  accountable  immor- 
tals, who,  Gallio  like,  care  for  none  of  these  things,  but  follow  the  car- 
nal, mind,  in  its  rejection  of  God,   and  preference   of  the  world. 
Yet  if  we  have  hearts  awakened  for  ourselves,  they  must  feel  for  the  sin 
deceived  multitudes,  who  madly  put  away  from  them  the  words  of 
eternal  life — and  what  they  thus  feel,  they  must  manifest,  for  there  is  no 
middle  ground  on  which  we  can  contemplate  man  in  any  moment  of  his 
existence,  than  as  in  the  favour,  or  under  the  curse  of  his  maker.  This, 
my  brethren  of  the  clergy,  is  the  anxious,  oppressive  thought,  which 
weighs  down  the  spirit  of  the  ministers  of  Christ,  under  the  apathy 
and  indifference,  wherewith  the  Gospel  is  received.    But  whether  they 
will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  forbear,  necessity  is  laid  upon  us;  yea, 
woe  be  to  us  if  we  preach  not  the  Gospel.    Arm  yourself,  therefore, 
my  brother,  who  will  this  day  be  invested  with  Christ's  commission 
to  preach  the  Gospel  and  administer  the  sacraments  of  the  grace  of 
God — Arm  yourself  with  a  steadfast  mind,  fully  and  faithfully  to  ad- 
minister the  trust  committed  you.    You  have  to  go  forth  among  this 
heedless  and  unconcerned  race  of  fallen  creatures — you  have  to  rouse 
them  from  the  lethargy  of  unbelief — to  awaken  them  from  the  dream  of 
mortality,  and  point  their  thoughts,  their  anxieties,  their  exertions,  to  the 
realities  of  another  being-— and  to^  apply  the  sanctions  of  eternity  to 
the  pursuits  and  occupations  of  time.    You  profess  to  be  called  of  God 
to  this  great  work — Believing  this,  we  this  day  clothe  you  with  Christ's 
commission,  derived  from  his  holy  Apostles,  to  call  sinners  to  repent- 
ance.   Commending  you  to  the  grace  of  God,  and  exhorting  you  to 
make  full  proof  of  your  ministry,  and  to  bear  in  mind  that  you  have 
to  account  for  immortal  souls — We  bid  you  God  speed,  and  may  he  who 
hath  the  remainder  of  the  spirit,  and  who  alone  giveth  the  increase, 
be  with  you  in  your  v/ork,  to  the  advancement  of  his  glory,  the  good  of 
his  church,  the  safety,  honour  and  welfare  oi  his  people. 

Now  unto  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost — the 
only  living  and  true  Godj  be  all  honour  and  glory — now  and  forever  ^ 


